(Tim Mickiewicz photo)
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The game literally went right down to the wire before the Gaels prevailed with a 32-27 come-from-behind win.
The match was played at break neck speed with both teams unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities that, had they done so, would have seen the scoreline blown out.
SMC took a narrow 17-12 advantage into halftime, but the Wildcats struck within three minutes of the resumption to tie it up.
St Mary’s showed that they again have pace, are well-drilled, and can move the ball well, but so too did Central Washington, hence the back and forth nature of the contest.
SMC scored an unconverted try six minutes into the second half to retake the lead, only to surrender a converted score by CWU 12 minutes later that saw the Wildcats take over at 24-22.
Central Washington’s Aaron Lee booted a penalty goal in the 58th minute to extend his side’s lead to 27-22, but SMC hit right back with another unconverted try to tie things up yet again with around 12 minutes left on the clock.
The home team went in for the final time inside the last five minutes to take a 32-27 lead and then managed to stave off a furious finish by CWU and hang on for the victory.
"Central did a great job capitalizing on our errors," St Mary's head coach Tim O'Brien told ARN. "In terms of our progression, this was good and CWU is a very classy program."
Matt Crawford, Andrew Cook, and Brandon Vedder all stood out for SMC.
(Rick Schmid photo)
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“This kind of competition is what we were looking for, a measuring stick if you will,” added Central Washington head coach Bob Ford.
“It was a perfect opportunity for us to develop some of our younger guys and to give them a perspective of what a playoff weekend is all about.
“We will take a lot of lessons away from both our matches on the weekend and the boys are perhaps more committed now than ever to putting in the hard work that is necessary for us to improve going forward. I think both SMC and UCSB have quality programs and I am sure we will see a lot more from both of these programs in the future.”
St Mary’s dispatched Loyola Marymount 34-17 on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s final, while Central Washington downed UC Santa Barbara 32-20 to earn its place in the championship decider.
CWU led 21-5 at the half. UCSB ran in several well-constructed tries in the second period to close the gap, but by then the damage had been done.
Winger Jordan Bahr (3), fullback Mike Nelson, and Devin Snyder all turned in key performances for CWU, while Lee added three penalty goals.
In the consolation game, UCSB blanked LMU 47-0.
